


Ice Bath

by glorious_spoon



Series: Hurt/Comfort Bingo 2018 [6]
Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Chemical Weapons, Fever, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-11 00:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16464998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glorious_spoon/pseuds/glorious_spoon
Summary: Peggy gets in the way of some experimental weaponry that leaves her burning up. Jack and Daniel take care of her.





	Ice Bath

**Author's Note:**

> For a tumblr prompt by lillianmalter. Also fills the fever/delirium square on my H/C Bingo card.

There were voices overhead, but they seemed distant and warped, as though they were coming from underwater. Her eyes were itchy and sore, as dry as two round stones set in the aching bones of her face.

“--Peggy?” Daniel’s face swam before her, oddly distorted, a blurry smudge of dark hair and pale skin. “Peggy, can you hear me?”

She licked her lips. When she spoke, her voice came out raspy and cracked. “Daniel?”

“Yeah.” His smile was a slash of white, warm and relieved. “How are you feeling?”

“Awful.” His fingers were gripping her upper arm tightly enough that was actually painful, but when she lifted a hand to try to pry them off, her muscles felt as loose and limp as cooked noodles. She let her hand drop. “What happened?”

“You got in the way of a mad scientist with a chemical weapon,” Daniel said. There seemed to be something wrong with his voice, but her hazy mind couldn’t quite make it out. “Scared the hell out of us.”

“Speak for yourself, Sousa,” said another voice from behind him. She reached for a name, but it seemed slippery, just out of her grasp, until a hazy blond head came into view. Jack. That was Jack. “Bath’s ready.”

“Are you sure—”

“Lab boys said we need to bring her temperature down before they can even try the antidote.” Jack leaned into her field of vision as well. “How’re you doing, Carter?”

“Awful,” Peggy said, and coughed. “As I just said.”

“Well, speaking from personal experience, this isn’t gonna feel any better, at least at first,” Jack said. “Sorry. Can you stand?”

“I—” She tried, really tried, but even with Daniel’s hands supporting her she could barely even sit up. Her skin ached, burning one instant and icy the next. “I think. I think perhaps I might need some help.”

“Jack—”

“I got her,” Jack interrupted. He sounded brisk and careless, but his hands were gentle as he scooped her up into his arms. It still hurt, and the disorientation was worse; everything seemed to be the wrong size, the walls and ceiling fitted together at queasily impossible angles. Peggy squeezed her eyes shut, letting her head fall back against his shoulder, cotton rasping unpleasantly at her cheek. His fingers were pressed into bare skin; distantly, she realized that she’d been stripped to her knickers, which seemed like something she ought to care about. Just then, though, it didn’t seem very important.

“Hot,” she mumbled. It felt like the inside of a kiln, which also seemed wrong. The last she remembered, their base of operations had been drafty and cold in the January wind. “Why’s— why’s it so hot?”

“It really isn’t, Peggy,” Daniel said. His hand touched her cheek briefly; she could hear the tap of his crutch. “Jeeze. You’re burning up.”

“Door,” Jack said shortly, and Daniel made an affirmative noise. A latch clicked, then squeaking hinges, and they were crossing a room that felt even hotter, if that was possible. A wet, swampish smell pervaded the air. “Alright, Carter, I want you to promise that you’re not gonna break my jaw for this.”

“What?”

“We have to get your temperature down, Peggy,” Daniel said. He was on the other side of her now. She hadn’t even heard him move. “Best option right now is an ice bath.”

“It’s going to hurt,” Jack’s voice said from above her head. “Had scarlet fever when I was a kid, so trust me, I know. So I’m asking you nicely not to punch me. Okay?”

“I m-make no promises,” Peggy managed, and his chest quaked as he snorted. Daniel made an amused sound.

“Alright,” Jack said, stooping to lower her into the tub. “Here goes.”

It felt like being dropped into a pit of needles, so sharp that she couldn’t even gasp, couldn’t brace herself, couldn’t move or even think—

Daniel said something in a sharp tone, and then there were warm hands gripping her shoulders, steadying her before her head could slip under. Peggy reached up instinctively and clung to him, fisting her hands in his wet sleeves. It seemed a long, breathless moment before she could manage a thin, strained, “Ow.”

“Told you,” Jack said from overhead.

“Not helpful, Jack,” Daniel said shortly. And then, in a much more gentle tone of voice, “You okay?”

“Splendid,” Peggy gasped. She could see her own body beneath the water, pale and distorted. Even mostly submerged, she felt like she was burning, but her head was clearer. “What on earth was that?”

“Some kind of experimental weaponry.” Daniel chafed her arms a little, then stopped when she winced. His expression was still pale and worried. “Sorry. Stark’s on it; they should have an antidote pretty soon, or so he says. He’s gonna fly it up here personally.”

“Yeah,” Jack added from overhead. She peered up at him, but he was looking back toward the door. “So try not to die before then, okay?”

“Jack,” Daniel snapped, then stopped when Peggy shook her head.

Laughing hurt— _everything_ hurt, right now, so she swallowed it down. There were more important concerns at the moment anyway. “Did we stop them?”

“Yeah,” Daniel said, with a flickering smile. The skin around his eyes was still tight; she let go of his sleeve to lift one hand and cup his cheek. He turned his face into the touch, closing his eyes. “Or you did, anyway.”

“Good,” Peggy murmured, letting her head fall back against the cold porcelain, her eyes slipping closed. Daniel said her name sharply, and she could here Jack’s sudden footsteps crossing the room. She lifted one heavy hand to forestall them. The dreadful heat finally seemed to be leaching out of her, leaving her shaky and weak. “I’m alright. Just resting my eyes.”

“You sound like my grandmother,” Jack said, his tone thick with relief.

“Gam-gam, you mean?”

“You’re never gonna let me hear the end of that, are you?”

“Not likely,” Daniel said, an edge of laughter in his voice. His fingers moved on her skin, just slightly. “You alright, Peggy?”

“Everything hurts,” Peggy murmured without opening her eyes. “But yes. I think I’ll be alright.”


End file.
